Ancient West Literature

This literature course combines the most important texts from the Kolbe Academy Greek and Roman literature courses into a one year course in ancient literature. This course is ideal for students who have transferred into Kolbe's program at tenth grade or later, or for students who do not want to take two years to study the ancients.

This course introduces the student to the foundational works of Greek and Roman literature, as well as a study of genres and literary forms. The texts of antiquity are studied for their universal appeal to the human experience and for their influence upon the great thinkers and development of the West. Greek and Roman poetry, drama, and philosophy are referenced throughout the literary and intellectual works of Western thinkers to this day.

Students will identify and examine the inter-relationship between the four primary genres of all imitative forms of literature: the epic, the lyric, the tragedy, and the comedy; identify and use literary devices and figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, allegories, fables, parables; imitate these genres and literary devices in their writing in order to understand more deeply the nature and power of these forms; become familiar with the greatest examples of Greek and Roman literature and their impact upon Western literature and modes of thought throughout history; compare and contrast Greek and Roman ideals of heroism and virtue with the Christian understanding of these ideals, and identify the ways in which Greek and Roman thought served as preparation for the Gospel.

Students will examine the kinship between two of the great epics of Greece and Rome, The Iliad and The Aeneid; identify the Roman virtue of pietas and its subsequent transformation in Christianity; learn to interpret and distinguish the fourfold senses of theological writings: the literal, the allegorical, the moral, and the eschatological; and trace the influence of Greek thought on pagan Latin literature and on the works of St. Augustine.

Students taking this course for Kolbe Core (K) credit will have four papers, a mid-term, and final exam each semester. Additionally, core students should expect to have daily reading and minor weekly written assignments or quizzes.

Optional physical copies available for purchase for the following under the Ancient Western Literature "Optional Material" section in the Kolbe Bookstore (digital copies are provided with the self-paced course):